


The Nature of Tricksters

by Acid_Jack



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Abuse, F/F, F/M, I will tag as I go along, M/M, Multi, Mute Dave Strider, Past Abuse, Possession, Sexual Abuse, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Tricksters, it got romantic way faster than expected, strap the fuck in, this is gonna be a long one i hope, tricksters are shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-11-06 19:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11042520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acid_Jack/pseuds/Acid_Jack
Summary: Now, before we start anything big, let me explain something. In today’s society, it has been known for strong willed people to hallucinate a being that constantly voices their darkest feelings. These hallucinations are called Tricksters.Not everyone has a trickster, and if you have one it’s not a good thing. At. All. A trickster will try to sucker you into their emotions and thoughts, but don’t start giving in to their thoughts or they will take control for a small period of time. A trickster is said to be a big horrible monster with beguiling ways that can make even the strongest person break eventually.Since that’s out of the way, you’re John Egbert, and you have a trickster. Remember how I just stated that tricksters are big horrible monsters? Well, not really. At least your trickster didn’t look it…





	1. ==> Be John

**Author's Note:**

> Let's give this whole fanfiction thing a go shall we?

Now, before we start anything big, let me explain something. In today’s society, it has been known for strong willed people to hallucinate a being that constantly voices their darkest feelings. These hallucinations are called Tricksters.

Not everyone has a trickster, and if you have one it’s not a good thing. At. All. A trickster will try to sucker you into their emotions and thoughts, but don’t start giving in to their thoughts or they will take control for a small period of time. A trickster is said to be a big horrible monster with beguiling ways that can make even the strongest person break eventually.

  
Now, a trickster will grow with it’s host. As a person learns to resist a tricksters thoughts, the trickster will learn to tempt. As a kid both are naive and it’s easy to fall into a trickster’s trap, but as a kid you can’t do much harm, and kids are very spontaneous anyways so it’s very hard to tell when a child has a trickster.

People with tricksters are typically avoided because if a person does fall into a trickster’s trap, they do incredibly awful things. No one ever says what, but a trickster is easily discernable from their host. Tricksters are often an exact opposite of their host and a lot more violent. There are rumors of subtle and not so subtle appearance changes as well. Nothing for sure is known on tricksters because those with don’t want to become human experiments or outcasts and those without fear and refuse to associate with someone who has one.

Since that’s out of the way, you’re John Egbert, and you have a trickster. Remember how I just stated that tricksters are big horrible monsters? Well, not really. At least your trickster didn’t look it…

Candyman leans in, blocking your view of Dave. _Don’t react._ Was your first thought, and because tricksters know the thoughts and feelings of their host, _would you please move?_ , was the second. “Oh! Don’t be a spoil sport!” Candyman was giggling as he moved to stand behind Dave.

Who was still rapidly moving his hands, _crap I just missed all of that_.

And now Dave is staring at you expectantly…

“Um... I couldn’t really keep up?” was the unintelligible response you ended up gracing this cool dude with.

Dave quirked an eyebrow at your apparently stupid response and signed painfully slow, _‘I was asking if you wanted to do something today.’_

“Uh oh!” Candyman’s voice called from behind Dave as he pulled the most childish surprised face possible. “You have plans today John~! You finally got Karkat to do what you want! And Dave can abide by your rules too!”

You wanted to prove your parasite wrong for once, but he was right… “Sorry Dave, I have plans with Karkat today.” Candyman giggled and stared at something, his eyes blown wide in pure glee. _What the fuck Candy?_ “Nothing! I just hope you know you just crushed his entire being with that one sentence!”

Dave must have seen your face fall with what Candy just said, because he started a whole list of reasons why you shouldn’t be upset about not hanging out with a cool kid like him.

  
The bell rang in the middle of Dave’s rant and you internally scolding Candyman, startling both of you into standing up from the lunch table and scurrying to class. Candyman floats through the halls just in front of you, flipping and floating wherever he wants. Your next class is gym with Mr. Ampora, a man who absolutely terrified you. _I am not going to ever be late to his class_ , and for once, Candyman agrees.

You made it to class and changed before the bell rang again. Candy liked to change his attire too for this class, as his normal windsock hood was gone and his shirt was replaced with a smiley slime, bright pink booty shorts changed to khaki knee-length shorts. You never understood why he changed his outfit given no one but you could see him.

“I’ve told you John! I like to look my best when I surface!”

_And what the fuck does that mean?_

“You know what it means silly! You just don't like to remember it!”

That raised several questions, but they were lost when Karkat called to you from across the room.

Jogging over, you see him talking to a very lanky red head with the messiest hair you’ve ever seen, _and I thought Karkat’s was bad_. “Who is this Karkat?”

“He’s an old friend of mine, he tends to skip a lot of school but I got him to come today.” Karkat’s rough voice grated and Candy looked a little creeped out by the tall guy. Said guy just gave a lazy smile and a wave.

“I’m Gamzee, nice to meet a main bro’s favorite motherfucker.” His voice was slow and it sounded like he was on some sort of drug.

“John! It’s nice to meet you Gamzee!” You hold a hand out for a handshake only for it to be lazily smacked in a high-five of sorts. Candy twitches at the contact, and grabbed onto Karkat’s shoulders as if to shield himself from the tall druggie. Karkat quirked a brow at you as he caught you staring (there’s a reason people think you’re an airhead).


	2. ==> Be Karkat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to update this once a week? I thank all of you who are already reading this train wreck. I love kudos and comments!

You are Karkat, and you are in the Gym with John and Gamzee. Tart, your weird as fuck trickster, is on the bleachers as far away as possible from Gamzee. The pink John just hanging onto your back. This is the main reason you hang out with Gamzee, his mere presence scares all tricksters in the vicinity. On top of your trickster leaving, most others are silent or generally leave people alone.

John was just staring at his blond version stupidly and ignoring any sort of conversation with Gamzee. You raise an eyebrow at him cause you didn’t find this shit out of the ordinary, why the fuck would he be so fascinated with some version of anyone hanging onto someone else?

He flushed a dark red before returning to the conversation he was having with Gamzee.

Mr. Ampora called your class together and everyone was taken outside, not that you had to do anything. You pulled your phone out of your pocket to see a message from one of your few friends.

Surprising, given you usually message her first.

\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] started pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 11:26 --

GA: Um, Karkat? I Think I’m Having Some Relationship Problems.

CG: WHAT KIND OF PROBLEMS

CG: LAST TIME I CHECKED YOU WEREN’T IN A RELATIONSHIP

GA: That Would Be The Problem.

CG: WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN!?

GA: I May Or May Not Have Someone That Has Caught My Eye.

CG: WHO IS IT

GA: Um, I Guess That’s A Bit Of An Embarrassing Subject? Her Name Is Rose…

CG: YOU MEAN JOHN’S DIMWITTED BEST FRIEND’S SISTER?

GA: Yes That’s Her.

CG: SO TELL HER

GA: I Can’t Just Tell Her!

CG: WHY NOT?

GA: I…

GA: I Will Talk To You Next Period.

GA: I Have A Test.

\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] has ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 11:39 --

You put your phone away and entertain yourself by watching the pink John float around, trying to get away from the messy redhead as he follows the actual John. You had drifted away from their group so Tart is back to pester you.

You like to believe you have a good personality, it’s just this guy who keeps yelling in your ears that makes you so grumpy.

“Hey!” He presses himself into your back, you wonder how no one else pays any of these creatures any mind, honestly they’re hard to ignore when they keep bumping into you.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me!” Your voice was screaming right by your ear and you tried to ignore him. “You’re ignoring me aren’t you!?” You mutter a quick “No, I’m not” under your breath to satisfy him.  
“Oh! Ok then!! Gamzee has left you for John you know! Your only use is a short distraction!”

“Oh no it’s not, Gamzee and I are friends and it’ll stay that way. Any other shitty theories you wanna spill outta that fucked up candy brain of yours?”

A few people stared at you, but you’re used to being that weird kid who talks to himself. Tart floated around to your front and your vision was completely filled with this candy corn version of you with horns. His arms draped around your shoulders and you could feel his sleeves on the backs of your calves. “Oh I have so many more! I’ll spare you for now though!”

“Thank you, now will you move so I can see where the other two went?”

His head moved to the side just enough to see the pink kid start flying towards you. “Why do you look so freaked out?” Tart was still yelling into your ear and you managed a “Fucking John” Before you were smashed into and knocked over by the flying pink mass.

“Karkat!?” John jogged over to help you up, and you would take his hand if it wasn’t for the fact that Tart’s sleeves were successfully tying you up underneath both him and the pink Egbert. “What the hell?”

“You’re asking me? I don’t fucking know why your goddamned stupid ass pink self decided to barrel into me!” He just stood there slack jawed looking at you cursing and squirming trying to get out of your not so real prison.

“Oh! My apologies! Hee Hee! I didn’t expect to kill you!” John’s bubbly voice responded from your chest.

“What the fuck did you think was going to happen!?”

“Well! I expected to go right through you!”

John shifted awkwardly, “You… Can see him?”

“Fuck yea I can Egbert, this giggly shit is somehow more annoying than you! It’s hard as fuck to not notice him!”

A short pause, “No can do John! I’m stuck actually!”

“Um, I’m sorry about that Karkat… Why are both of you stuck? I doubt he’ll actually tell me.” John continued to shift awkwardly in place, watching you closely. “Well, cause Tart got his stupidly long as all fuck sleeves caught around us.”

The pink John gives you the biggest grin as John just looks at you incredulously.

“Who?”

“The only fucking thing that has twelve foot sleeves and looks like a giant ass candy corn!?”

“Karkat?”

“What the everloving hell do you want!?”

“I don’t see a candy corn person with long sleeves…”

“You really gonna pull that shit?”

“He really can’t see me Kitkat!!”

Your voice called from above you and the sleeves around you tightened as he tried to sit up.

“God damn it Tart do not sit up!”

“Mercy! Mercy! It’s so tight!”


	3. Chapter 3

Karkat and Candy keep yelling about something, but you can’t see it. All you see is Candy pushed up really close to Karkat and they’re sorta writhing and you can’t seem to get your head out of the gutter even though you know you aren’t homosexual, not that you have a problem with it. It just isn’t you.

With Karkat and Candy like that though you can’t do much other than ask weird stilted questions.

He keeps mentioning a “Tart” or something? It’s very hard to focus right now.

Candy gives you a look and that can’t be good. Karkat is busy screaming at himself and Candy is doubling his efforts to get out of whatever they’re tangled in, though it looks more like a lapdance to you…

_ Candy what the fuck!? _ You will yourself to not blush and hope that works. “Um, Karkat? How can I help?” Candy has a big grin on his face,  _ You proud of yourself? _ He nods very enthusiastically.

“John! Get Gamzee!” Karkat hasn’t stopped screaming but that one was directed at you so you go to get the red head for the small screaming troll. “John~! What are you doing taking orders? You should be giving them!” Candy calls from where he’s still pinned to Karkat. 

You yell over your shoulder without really thinking about it and that gives you a few more glances in your direction, but you ignore it in favor of grabbing the tall redhead who was staring dazedly at the interaction between you and Karkat.

Grabbing his arm you drag him over and Candy instantly begins freaking out. And Karkat seems to almost be suffocating.

You were going to pull Gamzee away when Karkat stops struggling and starts laughing. “Oh I am in so much pain! Why did you do this?” Candy got off of Karkat and dashed to hide behind you. 

“Um, Karkat? What do you mean?” You were confused to say the least, but mostly unsettled by the grin pulling its way onto Karkat’s face. His eyes were screwed up but you couldn’t tell exactly how. 

“I mean~” He dragged the words out as long as possible, almost flirty in a way, as he slowly got up from the grass. “You just forced me to show up! You made a mistake bringing that abomination over here!”

Gamzee chuckled a bit and Candy’s arms wrapped around your middle.

“Aw, what a pity~. Candy doesn’t like me~?” Karkat’s voice sounded like it was cutting in and out. He moved slowly and what looked to be painfully.

“Karkat? How do you know his name?”

“Oh I know a lot~. The real question is,” He pulled a sickle that seemed to have trouble forming out of his strife deck. 

Those were supposed to be empty at school and they had a way of checking.  _ How does Karkat have a weapon like that? _

“Am I really Karkat?” He laughed and Karkat’s normally dark hair was rapidly fading into an odd peachy orange. His eyes were huge and the pupils were no longer distinguishable from the iris. 

“Damn motherfucker, you got so violent so quickly.” Gamzee spoke up for the first time and it almost startled you.

Karkat turned on him, his own self starting to glitch a bit. Visuals weren’t consistent on him and there were patches of where his color was back to normal. “You! You are the fucking reason I am this abomination right now!” His voice went screwy and you still didn’t know what was happening.

Gamzee chuckled a bit and his hair seemed to be a little darker than you remember. “Gamzee, how many times have you fucking done this!?” Karkat looked to be almost in tears, but he was still smiling.

“Too many times motherfucker, sorry to do this to ya Tart bro.” 

You had no idea how to react or do anything in the situation, things were going fast and nothing made sense. 

Why did Karkat change color?

How does Karkat have a weapon?

It’s happened before?

Why is Karkat so familiar and different at the same time?

How does Gamzee of all people know what to do?

Why does Karkat have horns now?

Wait.

Karkat has horns.

Gamzee walked calmly to Karkat and the orange kid flinched.

“Gamzee, what- why is- Karkat is-” You couldn’t get a sentence out as you watched Gamzee pull out a pair of clubs from his own strife deck, again something neither of them should have.

Candy leaned up to cover your eyes, from what you don’t know, but the last thing you saw was a pleading look from Karkat as his colorful illusion fell away for a split second.

You heard a gross thud and people started gathering, people apparently weren’t paying attention when Karkat was yelling, but they definitely noticed when the yelling stopped.

Candy floated in front of you and Gamzee walked to your side calmly, Karkat slung over his shoulder. “I’m gonna take this motherfucker to the infirmary. Come with and I’ll explain a few things?” Gamzee was speaking even slower now, wobbling as he walked, and you figured you might as well figure out what the fuck just happened.

You told Mr. Ampora that Karkat passed out and needed to take him to the nurse, but on the way to the hallway when you thought you’d get some answers Gamzee just replied to your questions with, “I dunno” or “that’s a fucking miracle” and the occasional, “ask Karbro dude.”

The nurse was nice but let only one of you stay to look after Karkat. 

When the bell rung again Gamzee got up to leave for his next class and gave you a half solute.

As Karkat slept through the period, his phone kept buzzing and the form of a body was slowly filling out, curled up and resting on Karkat’s chest.

You were still confused but were banking on waiting ‘till he wakes up for answers.

Hopefully  _ Without _ the sickle he was carrying earlier.

Candy amused himself by messing with the only thing he seemed to be able to interact with besides yourself, Karkat.


	4. ==> Be Karkat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat wakes the fuck up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may not be as consistent with future updates... I'm writing more Homestuck stuff... Thanks to all of you who are reading!

You are Karkat and you just woke up. And waking up feels like being hit by a sack of bricks.

You sit up, holding your head and look around. Scratch the sack of bricks metaphor, you’ve been hit by at least five bullet trains at this point. 

You feel something brush your hair and can feel the flickering presence of someone on your stomach. 

“Karkat?” John’s voice cut through the air and pounded your skull. You much prefer the silence. 

You look up and give him a glare and you feel fingers card through your hair again. There was a giggle by your ear and a worried look on John’s face. 

“Are you alright?” John was still speaking at an unnecessarily loud volume. You glare at him quickly before turning to see if you could get Gamzee to stop petting your hair, but when you turned around there was nothing, only a streak of pink before the hands resumed their position in your hair. 

You’re gonna deny that it feels good if anybody asks, but before that you need to get them to stop their soothing.

They moved away and impossibly blue eyes suddenly blocked your vision, which startled you a little, but you recognize who it is immediately.

“John, what is Candy doing?” You whispered to keep it from destroying your head.

“Well, no one else can see him or touch him, so he’s a bit excited that you can I guess.” John’s voice was a little above a whisper now, thank god, and the presence on your stomach began to stir.

John’s eyes followed the movement.

You think that’s the first time someone other than Gamzee has seen Tart, or payed attention to him at least.

John pulled his eyes away from the flickering image on your stomach and opened his mouth to say something, a giggle by your ear cut him off and you winced.

“John! That’s a rude way to ask!” The pink John, Candy, your mind helpfully supplies, was nearly screaming into your ear. 

You stick your hand out in the general direction of where the voice is from and manage to catch Candy’s face and shove him away. “What were you gonna ask? Also tell this fucker to either stop yelling or stand on the other side of the room.” 

John gave Candy a look and the pink one made a zipper motion across his lips before settling his hands back in your hair.

John looked uncomfortable for a bit before finally mustering up the courage to say something. 

“Um, well, you kind of, managed to pull out a weapon on school grounds?” John winced a little as he heard how poorly his question was worded.

You pull out the card for your strife deck and handed it to him to prove you were unarmed. “What else?” 

“What- you changed? What was that?” John looked back down to Tart who began to sit up, his sleeves draped all along your body.

You can’t quite recall what happened, but you do recognize the pain and flickering your trickster is going through. “Tart, did you take over?”

He wiped his face with the long sleeves and looked you over blearily, “I had no choice, I was stuck. You called Gamzee over.” 

Well you do remember that, being stuck on the ground. “Well, John.” 

John’s head snapped up to where you were glaring at Tart. 

“I’m sorry for anything I did, if you are done with me that’s fine, but I’d like you to know that it was this little shit who did all of that.” 

Tart looked away from you and grinned at John. His body disappeared and you felt a pressure inside you for a split second before he reappeared, looking a little surprised. 

This didn’t surprise you, you remember this happening every time Tart’s body wasn’t completely visible, but it certainly surprised John.

Tart looked upset before spacing himself away from you and going to wrap John in his long sleeves.

“What just-”

“Stop asking stupid questions, Tart is having trouble staying on his own after merging with me involuntarily.”

“Involun-”

“Yes John, involuntarily. Jesus Christ, do you know nothing about these little shits? They are fucking annoying and fucking everywhere as well. They can’t do anything and are virtually harmless until something forces them to merge with you.”

Candy stopped his fingers and leaned over to look at you quizzically.

John seemed to accept the answer but still seemed a little unsure over the fine details in your sentence.

“What?” you look between the confused, blonde John and the slightly unsure John.

“Why the fuck are you both giving me that look?”

“You seem to have a few things screwed up!” Candy was calling into your face again, unable to contain himself apparently. God his voice hurt your head.

“What, exactly, do I have screwed up candy ass?” Candy grinned but wouldn’t respond, making a zipper motion over his mouth again.

The fingers moved again and Tart leaned over John’s shoulder to get a better look at him.

Tart was gonna fall on the poor kid if he didn’t watch what he was doing…

Yup, there he-

Tart leaned too far and ended up halfway through his chest… 

That’s new.

John seized up and Tart began to flicker.

Candy shot up from where he settled behind you and made his way over to where John was having small bursts of spasms.

“John?” You stood up, forgetting the headache and just trying to figure out what was happening.

John’s voice was warbled as he tried to figure out what was going on.

You and candy swiftly went up to the flickering Tart and grabbed a hold of one hand each.

Pulling Tart out turned out to be a much harder task than originally thought and even Candy was straining to keep ahold of a being that kept appearing and disappearing with no warning.

John’s eyes were shifting and that wasn’t good. You pull Tart out so only his sleeves were touching John and left the rest to Candy.

“Oh fuck John! What do I do?” You pat his face and his screwy eyes focused on you for a split second before they fell shut.

Candy flickered, which was apparently new for them, before the pink John stood in the center of the room, more solid than ever.

“Oops! Didn’t know that was possible!” Candy put his hand over his mouth as he giggled.

“I didn’t either!” Your own voice grated on your nerves and you turned to an overexcited Tart, Still staring at John a little longingly.

“What the fuck just happened?”


	5. Chapter 5

You are Dave and you are in your computer class. You had heard that one of John’s friends passed out in gym, and the information was circling. It was mostly rumors you’re sure, what with everyone saying two people got into a fight with weapons. 

“What if they hurt John? What if John was the one who got knocked out and people are just screwing that information up too??” Your trickster was a bit of a mess, he was worried beyond belief and it was starting to get to you too.

You sign back, partially to them, partially to remind yourself, that John will be ok. Shorty just shook his head frantically before perking up a bit and dashing to a corner of the room. You watched as he bounded off and your attention was stolen when a big jock walked up to you and sat down. You took particular interest in this because nobody ever sits next to you, seeing as no one could ever use you as a distraction. You can’t talk after all.

The guy who sat next to you was ridiculously big, all muscle and at least as tall as you, which says a lot. His long hair was neatly pulled back into a low ponytail, his bangs brushing the hard angles of his cheeks and chin in the front. He was pretty in a weird way, but it looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

You pass a note to him where you just scrawled a simple ‘may i help you’.

He gave you a look as he stared at the messy handwriting. “Oh, no I don’t know if you can. I just wanted to be left alone. You are always so quiet so I figured you wouldn’t mess with me a ton.” 

You frown at him and pull the piece of paper back to write a single word ‘rude’.

He looks absolutely destroyed by the single word and you mouth back at him ‘mute’.

He covers his face with one hand as he signs, very carefully it seems, what can only be read as a shaky ‘I apologize for my misunderstanding’ even though one or two words in the sentence required two hands.

Shorty squeaked in excitement seeing as you couldn’t when this guy replied in sign language. A grin split your face and you tapped him to get his attention, ‘You can read sign language! That’s a first among the people in this fucking school. If I can help tell me alright? I’m sure there’s something I can do, and I won’t interrupt you if you just want to talk. I’m a great listener you know, the best of the best, I probably top everyone in this room.’ The big guy let out a little chuckle, breathy and deep.

“As nice as that is, I’m still not sure if you can help me.” His voice was slow and quiet. He paused before turning fully to look at you with his deep blue eyes. “So I take it sitting next to you wasn’t going to be the best idea?” You shrug and give him a lazy smile. 

‘I’m known to be very distracting. The name’s Dave, you?’

He lets out an easily sarcastic sigh as he lets you know his name is Equius. A strong name for a strong lookin’ dude. You like it. 

‘So what’s up?’

He looks a little surprised for a bit but then relaxes himself, “Not much I suppose, what would be up with you?”

‘Same here dude, but can I ask something of you?’

He nods, ‘Please never ask what’s up, that sounded strained, forced and awkward. It was fucking palpable and it felt like a goddamned train wreck up in here.’

He lets out another weak chuckle and turns back to what the teacher was saying.

This Equius guy was so quiet and calming, without Shorty here it was especially so. The giant next to you looked like he would be huge and brash and intimidating as all hell, but this gentle giant was quiet and had troubles talking. He needed to be alone and  _ he himself moved _ rather than making those around him give up their spots.

You look to the corner where Shorty was sitting. He was smiling and laughing real loud, tears streaming down his face. Either he’s histarical about John and decided to leave you alone (highly unlikely) or he found something to entertain him and he’s so happy and excited about it that he’s bawling. The second seemed more likely but you can’t see shit over in that corner that he likes. The blue trickster just had his cape wrapped around him as he leaned into the corner.

You catch yourself staring when Equius follows your gaze. He looks a little unsettled and turns to you when you quickly turn back around to face your computer screen.

“Uhm…” Equius’s voice was just barely above a whisper. “Do you have a… Oh how do I say this without being rude.” He strangly accentuated rude as he spoke. He clicked his tongue and Shorty gave a whine from his corner. He seemed to be thinking for a long while before deciding to just get over with it. “Fiddle sticks, do you by chance have a trickster?” As he was talking, Shorty came walking over and sat down on your lap, tears still streaming down his face. 

‘What makes you think that?’ You try not to let anything show on your face as Shorty stares intently at something to the right of Equius.

“Oh my, I just assumed. I must be wrong. I just-” He cut himself off and began to stand, Shorty almost going berserk with the action and he shot up to do something about it.

The surprise and your hand moving to grab the bawling creature must have told Equius more than you’d like. He stared at you for a second, him completely standing and you half out of your chair and Shorty grasped at the air  beside Equius. Wait. Do other people have these things?

‘Shorty.’

“What?”

You breathe out a quick breath. Honestly, Shorty freaking out just fries your nerves most of the time so this is the only shot you have to keep Equius here and Shorty sedated.

‘His name is Shorty. Can you see him?’


	6. ==> Be Equius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This in: I can't write Equius

For once you are glad you’d assumed. So Dave, who was leaned almost precariously into you, has someone like your Clyde.

He’s staring at you and starting to get up fully when you didn’t respond. Clyde is reaching towards something on Dave’s right and you assume that’s where Shorty is.

“Uh…” You want to say something, but the words seemed too much in the crowded space. You instead make sure that you have the red kid’s attention before signing carefully, ‘I have one as well, his name is Clyde. I cannot see Shorty but I can guess where he is by what Clyde is doing.’

‘And what is Clyde doing?’

‘Returning a hug by what I can tell.’

Dave relaxed a bit and sat down, Clyde just in front of his lap.

‘So what does yours look like?’

You wrinkle your nose trying to figure out how to explain it. The click clacking of keys in the rest of the room seeming to grow louder in the lack of conversation.

‘Give me a moment, he’s hard to describe in sign language.’

Dave nods and you pull out your design book and flip it open to a random page, the doodles of horses and robot designs already scrawled everywhere. You look to Dave to see he has a sketchbook out, a clean page up as he starts drawing.

It’s a good thing you already finished the coding assignment because otherwise you’d be in big trouble by the teacher. Mr. Captor is one of those teachers that doesn’t much care what you do in class as long as the assignment is finished, which you make sure to finish nearly one hundred percent by the end of the first night. It’d be shameful to not finish or to even not have enough time to finish. Your mind has escaped you against the will of your better conscience.

You aren’t amazing at humans but you try your best and end up with something decently similar to your jawbreaker color explosion of a self trickster, horns and all. When you look up and turn to where Dave was, he seems to have gotten a fairly decent sketch of what you assume to be shorty, though the person on paper looked like it was curled around something and you realized that Dave was drawing based off what he could see, and that was (you’re assuming again) his Shorty wrapped around your half vision of Clyde.

When he catches you staring he pulls his arm back enough to show you what he’s drawing and you patiently wait for him to finish his admittedly amazing drawing of what looked to simply be him in a cape, sunglasses pushed to the top of his head. You look it over and get a good idea, you hope he doesn’t mind. ‘Would you mind if I made an addition to the page? I would hate to impose upon you and your things.’ He makes a sweeping “go ahead” motion that you don’t need to know sign language to understand.

You carefully drag the sketchbook closer and study Clyde for about two seconds trying to figure out what he’d look like from Dave’s side without moving. After getting a pretty good idea you begin your drawing on top of his, Clyde’s face was pressed to the top of his Shorty’s head and Clyde’s arms were wrapped securely around Shorty’s waist. Dave watched curiously and when he noticed what you were doing he looked in the direction of Clyde and Shorty, one of which you couldn’t see. You knew how to fix that but the way you found out was so haunting you aren’t sure if you’d be able to do that again...


End file.
